Yoko Shimomura (下村 陽子 Shimomura Yōko, born October 19, 1967) is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as “the most famous female video game music composer in the world”. She has worked in the video game industry ever since graduating from the Osaka College of Music in 1988. From then until 1993, she worked for Capcom, where she composed wholly or in part the scores for 16 games, including Final Fight and Street Fighter II. Read Full BioYoko Shimomura (下村 陽子 Shimomura Yōko, born October 19, 1967) is a Japanese video game composer. She has been described as “the most famous female video game music composer in the world”. She has worked in the video game industry ever since graduating from the Osaka College of Music in 1988. From then until 1993, she worked for Capcom, where she composed wholly or in part the scores for 16 games, including Final Fight and Street Fighter II.
While working for Capcom, Shimomura contributed to the soundtracks of over 16 games, including the successful Street Fighter II, which she composed all but three pieces for. The first soundtrack she worked on at the company was for Samurai Sword in 1988. Final Fight, in 1989, was her first work to receive a separate soundtrack album release, on an album of music from several Capcom games. The first soundtrack album to exclusively feature her work came a year later for the soundtrack to Street Fighter II. While she began her tenure at Capcom working on games for video game consoles, by 1990 she had moved to the arcade game division. She was a member of the company's in-house band Alph Lyla, which played various Capcom game music, including pieces written by Shimomura. She performed live with the group on a few occasions, including playing piano during Alph Lyla's appearance at the 1992 Game Music Festival.
In 1993, Shimomura left Capcom to join another game company, Square (now Square Enix). She stated that the move was done because she was interested in writing "classical-style" music for fantasy role-playing games. While working for Capcom, she was in the arcade department and was unable to transfer to the console department to work on their role-playing video game series Breath of Fire, although she did contribute one track to the first game in the series. Her first project at the company was the score for the role-playing video game Live A Live in 1994. While she was working on the score to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars the following year, she was asked to join Noriko Matsueda on the music to the futuristic strategy RPG Front Mission. Although she was overworked doing both scores and it was not the genre that she was interested in, she found herself unable to refuse after her first attempt to do so unexpectedly happened in the presence of the president of Square, Tetsuo Mizuno. These games were followed by Tobal No. 1, the last score she worked on with another composer for a decade.
Over the next few years, she composed the soundtrack to several games, including Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana. Of all her compositions, Shimomura considers the soundtrack to Legend of Mana the one that best expresses herself and the soundtrack remains Shimomura’s personal favourite. Parasite Eve on the PlayStation had the first soundtrack by Shimomura that included a vocal song, as it was the first game she had written for running on a console system that had the sound capability for one. In 2002 she wrote the score for Kingdom Hearts, which she has said is the most “special” soundtrack to her, as well as a turning point in her career; she named the soundtracks to Street Fighter II and Super Mario RPG as the other two significant points in her life as a composer.
Kingdom Hearts was wildly successful, shipping more than four million copies worldwide; Shimomura’s music was frequently cited as one of the highlights of the game, and the title track has been ranked as the fourth-best role-playing game title track of all time. The soundtrack has led to two albums of piano arrangements. Kingdom Hearts was the last soundtrack that she worked on at Square. After the release of Kingdom Hearts in 2002, Shimomura left Square for maternity leave, and began work as a freelancer in 2003. She has built on the work she did while at Square; since leaving she has composed or is composing music for eleven Kingdom Hearts games and Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi series. She has also worked on many other projects, such as Heroes of Mana and various Premium Arrange albums. On February 10 and 11, 2014, Shimomura played piano at a retrospective 25th anniversary concert at Tokyo FM Hall. She performed songs from games such as Kingdom Hearts, Live a Live, and Street Fighter II. During the Beware the Forest’s Mushrooms performance from Super Mario RPG, Shimomura was joined onstage by fellow game composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who played the Irish bouzouki. She is currently working on the score for Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III.
Her works have gained a great deal of popularity, and have been performed in multiple video game music concerts, including one, Sinfonia Drammatica, that was focused half on her “greatest hits” album, Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura, and half on the music of a previous concert. Music from several of her games have been published as arranged albums and as piano scores.
Video game soundtracks:
• Samurai Sword (Famicom Disk System) (1988)
• Final Fight (1989) (Minor role) – with Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (uncredited)
• Code Name: Viper (1990) (All songs except Stage 1) (uncredited) – with Junko Tamiya
• Adventure Quiz Capcom World: Hatena no Daibouken (1990) (Minor role) – with Yoshihiro Sakaguchi, Manami Matsumae, Junko Tamiya, Hiromitsu Takaoka, and G. Morita (uncredited)
• Gargoyle's Quest (1990) (Minor role) – with Harumi Fujita (uncredited)
• Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (1990)
• Mizushima Shinji no Daikoushien (1990)
• Nemo (1990)
• Mahjong School: The Super O Version (1990) (Minor role) – with Masaki Izutani (uncredited)
• Street Fighter II (1991) – with Isao Abe
• Buster Bros. (PC Engine) (1991) – with Tamayo Kawamoto
• The King of Dragons (1991)
• Block Block (1991) – with Masaki Izutani
• Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (1992) (Minor role) – with Masaki Izutani and Toshio Kajino
• Breath of Fire (1993) – with Yasuaki Fujita, Minae Fujii, and Mari Yamaguchi (Only composed "Trade City")
• The Punisher (1993) – with Isao Abe
• Live A Live (1994)
• Front Mission (1995) – with Noriko Matsueda
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
• Tobal No. 1 (1996) – with many others
• Parasite Eve (1998)
• Legend of Mana (1999)
• Hataraku Chocobo (2000)
• Kingdom Hearts (2002)
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003)
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004)
• Pop'n Music Carnival (13) (2005) – (Only composed "Majestic Fire")
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005)
• Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
• Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (2006) – with many others
• Heroes of Mana (2007)
• Luminous Arc 2 (2008) – with Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki, and Shunsuke Nakamura
• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009)
• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009)
• Pop'n Music The Movie (17) (2009) – with many others
• Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto
• Kingdom Hearts coded (2010)
• Xenoblade Chronicles (2010) – with ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yasunori Mitsuda
• Last Ranker (2010)
• Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (2010)
• Radiant Historia (2010)
•The 3rd Birthday (2010) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Mitsuto Suzuki
• Half-Minute Hero II (2011) – with many others
• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto
• Demons' Score (2012) – (Only composed "Azazel del cielo ardiente")
• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013)
• Exstetra (2013) – (Only composed “Main Theme”)
• Rise of Mana (2014) - (Only composed “Where the Heart Beats Free”)
• Chronos Ring (2014) - with Kenji Ito and Evan Call
• Final Fantasy XV (2016)
• Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
Other works:
• Parasite Eve Remixes (1998)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Premium Arrange (2004) – with many others
• Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange (2004) – with many others
• Dan Doh!! (2004)
• Best Student Council (2005)
• Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange (2006) – with many others
• Murmur (2007) – original album with lyrics and vocals by Chata
• Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (2008)
• Mushihimesama Double Arrange Album (2009)
• GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!! (2012)
• GeOnDan RareTrax the LAST (2012)
• GeOnDan Super Rare Trax: The LAND of RISING SUN (2011) – with many others
• GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!! (2012)
• X'mas Collections II (2013)
• memória! ~ The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (2014)
• Game Music Prayer II (2014)
While working for Capcom, Shimomura contributed to the soundtracks of over 16 games, including the successful Street Fighter II, which she composed all but three pieces for. The first soundtrack she worked on at the company was for Samurai Sword in 1988. Final Fight, in 1989, was her first work to receive a separate soundtrack album release, on an album of music from several Capcom games. The first soundtrack album to exclusively feature her work came a year later for the soundtrack to Street Fighter II. While she began her tenure at Capcom working on games for video game consoles, by 1990 she had moved to the arcade game division. She was a member of the company's in-house band Alph Lyla, which played various Capcom game music, including pieces written by Shimomura. She performed live with the group on a few occasions, including playing piano during Alph Lyla's appearance at the 1992 Game Music Festival.
In 1993, Shimomura left Capcom to join another game company, Square (now Square Enix). She stated that the move was done because she was interested in writing "classical-style" music for fantasy role-playing games. While working for Capcom, she was in the arcade department and was unable to transfer to the console department to work on their role-playing video game series Breath of Fire, although she did contribute one track to the first game in the series. Her first project at the company was the score for the role-playing video game Live A Live in 1994. While she was working on the score to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars the following year, she was asked to join Noriko Matsueda on the music to the futuristic strategy RPG Front Mission. Although she was overworked doing both scores and it was not the genre that she was interested in, she found herself unable to refuse after her first attempt to do so unexpectedly happened in the presence of the president of Square, Tetsuo Mizuno. These games were followed by Tobal No. 1, the last score she worked on with another composer for a decade.
Over the next few years, she composed the soundtrack to several games, including Parasite Eve and Legend of Mana. Of all her compositions, Shimomura considers the soundtrack to Legend of Mana the one that best expresses herself and the soundtrack remains Shimomura’s personal favourite. Parasite Eve on the PlayStation had the first soundtrack by Shimomura that included a vocal song, as it was the first game she had written for running on a console system that had the sound capability for one. In 2002 she wrote the score for Kingdom Hearts, which she has said is the most “special” soundtrack to her, as well as a turning point in her career; she named the soundtracks to Street Fighter II and Super Mario RPG as the other two significant points in her life as a composer.
Kingdom Hearts was wildly successful, shipping more than four million copies worldwide; Shimomura’s music was frequently cited as one of the highlights of the game, and the title track has been ranked as the fourth-best role-playing game title track of all time. The soundtrack has led to two albums of piano arrangements. Kingdom Hearts was the last soundtrack that she worked on at Square. After the release of Kingdom Hearts in 2002, Shimomura left Square for maternity leave, and began work as a freelancer in 2003. She has built on the work she did while at Square; since leaving she has composed or is composing music for eleven Kingdom Hearts games and Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi series. She has also worked on many other projects, such as Heroes of Mana and various Premium Arrange albums. On February 10 and 11, 2014, Shimomura played piano at a retrospective 25th anniversary concert at Tokyo FM Hall. She performed songs from games such as Kingdom Hearts, Live a Live, and Street Fighter II. During the Beware the Forest’s Mushrooms performance from Super Mario RPG, Shimomura was joined onstage by fellow game composer Yasunori Mitsuda, who played the Irish bouzouki. She is currently working on the score for Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III.
Her works have gained a great deal of popularity, and have been performed in multiple video game music concerts, including one, Sinfonia Drammatica, that was focused half on her “greatest hits” album, Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura, and half on the music of a previous concert. Music from several of her games have been published as arranged albums and as piano scores.
Video game soundtracks:
• Samurai Sword (Famicom Disk System) (1988)
• Final Fight (1989) (Minor role) – with Yoshihiro Sakaguchi (uncredited)
• Code Name: Viper (1990) (All songs except Stage 1) (uncredited) – with Junko Tamiya
• Adventure Quiz Capcom World: Hatena no Daibouken (1990) (Minor role) – with Yoshihiro Sakaguchi, Manami Matsumae, Junko Tamiya, Hiromitsu Takaoka, and G. Morita (uncredited)
• Gargoyle's Quest (1990) (Minor role) – with Harumi Fujita (uncredited)
• Adventures in the Magic Kingdom (1990)
• Mizushima Shinji no Daikoushien (1990)
• Nemo (1990)
• Mahjong School: The Super O Version (1990) (Minor role) – with Masaki Izutani (uncredited)
• Street Fighter II (1991) – with Isao Abe
• Buster Bros. (PC Engine) (1991) – with Tamayo Kawamoto
• The King of Dragons (1991)
• Block Block (1991) – with Masaki Izutani
• Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (1992) (Minor role) – with Masaki Izutani and Toshio Kajino
• Breath of Fire (1993) – with Yasuaki Fujita, Minae Fujii, and Mari Yamaguchi (Only composed "Trade City")
• The Punisher (1993) – with Isao Abe
• Live A Live (1994)
• Front Mission (1995) – with Noriko Matsueda
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
• Tobal No. 1 (1996) – with many others
• Parasite Eve (1998)
• Legend of Mana (1999)
• Hataraku Chocobo (2000)
• Kingdom Hearts (2002)
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003)
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (2004)
• Pop'n Music Carnival (13) (2005) – (Only composed "Majestic Fire")
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005)
• Kingdom Hearts II (2005)
• Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (2006) – with many others
• Heroes of Mana (2007)
• Luminous Arc 2 (2008) – with Akari Kaida, Yoshino Aoki, and Shunsuke Nakamura
• Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009)
• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (2009)
• Pop'n Music The Movie (17) (2009) – with many others
• Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (2010) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto
• Kingdom Hearts coded (2010)
• Xenoblade Chronicles (2010) – with ACE+, Manami Kiyota, and Yasunori Mitsuda
• Last Ranker (2010)
• Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (2010)
• Radiant Historia (2010)
•The 3rd Birthday (2010) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Mitsuto Suzuki
• Half-Minute Hero II (2011) – with many others
• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012) – with Tsuyoshi Sekito and Takeharu Ishimoto
• Demons' Score (2012) – (Only composed "Azazel del cielo ardiente")
• Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013)
• Exstetra (2013) – (Only composed “Main Theme”)
• Rise of Mana (2014) - (Only composed “Where the Heart Beats Free”)
• Chronos Ring (2014) - with Kenji Ito and Evan Call
• Final Fantasy XV (2016)
• Kingdom Hearts III (2019)
Other works:
• Parasite Eve Remixes (1998)
• Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Premium Arrange (2004) – with many others
• Dark Chronicle Premium Arrange (2004) – with many others
• Dan Doh!! (2004)
• Best Student Council (2005)
• Rogue Galaxy Premium Arrange (2006) – with many others
• Murmur (2007) – original album with lyrics and vocals by Chata
• Drammatica: The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (2008)
• Mushihimesama Double Arrange Album (2009)
• GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!! (2012)
• GeOnDan RareTrax the LAST (2012)
• GeOnDan Super Rare Trax: The LAND of RISING SUN (2011) – with many others
• GO! GO! Buriki Daioh!! (2012)
• X'mas Collections II (2013)
• memória! ~ The Very Best of Yoko Shimomura (2014)
• Game Music Prayer II (2014)
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Nocturne
下村陽子 Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Nocturne' by these artists:
%EC%97%90%ED%94%BD %ED%95%98%EC%9D%B4 (Epik High) Onuse bami mojun sumul shwio sebyog byorun chumul chwo odumi…
A Tortured Soul When you live in darkness You pray to the angel…
Age The Greek sword over the head of your bed It swings…
Ana Roxanne And through the night A light shines And clouds fill the sky…
Anne Takle La dagen f Sin hvile n Og natten vil vke for den Nocturne…
Ash A song for the baby in your womb A song for…
Ash Kidd chérie monte dans la may back tu sais qu'on a des…
B.ton Nightmare bring me to the dawn I must ride your body…
Benighted Dans l'obscurité nocturne Et la brume épaisse du lieu où la…
Billy Joel When it rains I watch the window Golden dreams Wash down the…
Billy Joel(빌리 조엘) (instrumental)…
Blanco White Cold light of the stars the same A flag drew a…
BONNIE PINK Sayonara no kassai wo ukete mou ichido arukidasu Brand-new …
Celtic Woman Now let the day just slip away So the dark night…
César Franck Ô fraîche Nuit, Nuit transparente, Mystère sans obscurité, L…
D & C Feat. Bodane Broken spirit Bleeding light Would not give in Without a fig…
die in cries クチビルあわせ 眠りたい 満ちた月明かり浴びながら クチビルあわせ 眠りたい 抱きしめた想いのままで...... 汚れた…
DJ Food (mummuring in background) who are you? Are you good enough…
Eden So I've been thinking ‘bout something Lately I've been alive…
Elend "Lost in a dream... Drowning in the eyes Of a statue who…
Elisabeth Andreassen Ah, ah..., yeah, yeah... Sov på min arm! Natten gömmer U…
Epik High Onuse bami mojun sumul shwio sebyog byorun chumul chwo odumi…
eufonius Yume no ai mani omoi de wou kaze Samui mado ede…
Evert Taube Sov på min arm! Natten gömmer Under sin vinge din blossande…
Fairy 女神は永遠の 幸せの中で Here the goddess of happiness cries, And in thi…
Florian Zabach His Violin and Orchestra There's a place where you can go Music's hot and lights…
Forestella 바람이 부는 것은 더운 내 맘 삭여주려 계절이 다 가도록 나는…
Gunnhild Tvinnereim La dagen f Sin hvile n Og natten vil vke for den Nocturne…
Gunnhild Tvinnereim/Secret Garden/John Tate La dagen f Sin hvile n Og natten vil vke for den Nocturne S…
Hite What have I got to lose In letting you go What a…
Hologramme Et j'ai marché, dans la nuit. À la lueur d'une ville…
I.M.S Can't wait for the night For the sun To leave to this…
Inofaith Most of my ideas come out of complete silence. My work,…
Isabel Bayrakdarian Ellie Choate Խաղաղ գիշեր է, գեղեցիկ ու զով, Աշխարհ կը նիրհէ անուշ երազով.…
Kim Yoon Barami buneun geoseun. Deoun naeman sagyeojuryeo Gyejeori da…
Lucky Tapes 言葉になれない 声は枯れて このままここで帰りを待つよ 最後のチャイムとともに 君の姿を 追いかけて行く 聞こえないフリ…
M.Glinka - Can't wait for the night For the sun To leave to this…
Maybird Fire red ivy hangs around your window peak, season in…
Medeski Martin and Wood When autumn sings her lullaby And green leaves turn to gold …
MISIA つないだ手を握りしめて 二人の時は流れてた こんな夜は思い出す こぼれ落ちそうな月の光 知らず知らず君を傷つけて 知らず…
Natasha's Ghost A song for the baby in your womb A song for…
Nelleke Burg We stonden zacht te praten Aan 't kantje van de sloot De…
Niklas Strömstedt Leende spegel med brister och fel; Se att barnet har blivit…
Nocturne - Borodin J’fume des smokes, tellement que j’choke (j’choke) Ma vie es…
Paralysed Age The Greek sword over the head of your bed It swings…
Paul Chihara/The Roches You ask me why We cannot make love I have been ransacking…
Radigost Daylight leaves this world again, the burning ball called Su…
Red Delicious Daylight fades, my love Static hums but you can't hear it…
Rolf Loveland & Fionnula Sherry Now let the day just slip away So the dark night…
Rolf Løvland Now let the day Just slip away So the dark night may…
Rush Did I have a dream? Or did the dream have me? Did…
S.O.B. Nightmare bring me to the dawn I must ride your body…
Sans Seraph What can I say, It's been so long. Nothing to say It's be…
Secret Garden La dagen f Sin hvile n Og natten vil vke for den Nocturne S…
Secret Garden (2014) La dagen f Sin hvile n Og natten vil vke for den Nocturne…
Simon Joyner There's a vase full of flowers in the dining room I'm…
Soliloquium City night brings me back To retread past steps Among the mo…
Sonitus Vir once you desire something you cannot undesire it the car…
Sophie B. Hawkins Nightmare bring me to the dawn I must ride your body…
Sponge Cola Laid my head on a pillow Watched the night go by Watched…
Sylvia Plath Flintlike, her feet struck Such a racket of echoes from the…
T-99 Program kick the toe jam Feel the flow, here…
T99 Program kick the toe jam Feel the flow, here…
Taube Sov p min arm! Natten gmmer under sin vinge din…
TesseracT Climb (you're dehydrated) Fly (your wings are jaded) Cry (yo…
The Angelfire Project Nocturne Breathe, breath in the air. Breathe, breath in the…
The Hoodies Stay all night long* These walls won't talk or share our…
The Human Abstract Hollow self indulgence leading the way In the wake of inten…
The Love Language Wildflower, 'neath the Autumn leaves lead me to the river, …
The Roches You ask me why We cannot make love I have been ransacking…
The West Exit I don't know what you want Anything, I'll give it up I…
Tomoyo Harada 雨は今日も降り続き くちずさむうたも霧にとけて そしていつかめぐりあえる人に 胸は騒ぎ 時が降りそそぐ夜 降り続く雨…
Triniti Now let the day just slip away so the dark…
Various Artists Oh, come crush me now Don't leave No one has won this…
Vesa-Matti Loiri Ruislinnun laulu korvissani Tähkäpäiden päällä täysi kuu Kes…
Werkraum Welcome, sweet Death! Go, nightly cares, the enemy to rest,…
Wild Nothing You wanna know me What's to know Do I amuse you When the…
Yearning We float among the dismal parade of night bewildered Betwee…
Zero-Project Barami buneun geoseun. Deoun naeman sagyeojuryeo Gyejeori da…
原田知世 雨は今日も降り続き くちずさむうたも霧にとけて そしていつかめぐりあえる人に 胸は騒ぎ 時が降りそそぐ夜 降り続く雨…
宮野真守 月が見える 星が見える だけど君が見えない 想いつのる こんな夜は そばにいてよ いつか君とまた 笑えますように 少し…
山下智久 Sou marude She's like a star Todokisou de far Nagameteru in…
神秘园(secret garden) La dagen f Sin hvile n Og natten vil vke for den Nocturne Se…
We have lyrics for these tracks by 下村陽子:
Song of Mana ~Opening Theme~ Jag hörde En nostalgisk Sång någonstans långt borta Den rör…
メインテーマ 時は忍び足で 心を横切るの もう話す言葉も浮かばない あっけない KISSのあと ヘッドライト 点して 蝶のように 跳…
The lyrics can frequently be found in the comments below or by filtering for lyric videos.